


In bocca al lupo

by happilyinsane13



Series: When You Least Expect It [1]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Andy loves sweets, Attempt at Humor, Attempts at Italian, Everyone Is Gay, Found Family, Immortal Dads, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Multi, Nicky is such a dad, Nile Freeman-centric, Nile is bi, Slice of Life, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25945276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happilyinsane13/pseuds/happilyinsane13
Summary: Nile felt betrayed, bewildered, just… bamboozled!For fuck’s sake, she thought Nicky was the nice one.In other words, Nicky and the gang drop Nile off in the middle of nowhere to learn Italian.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nile Freeman/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Series: When You Least Expect It [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911655
Comments: 15
Kudos: 322





	In bocca al lupo

**Author's Note:**

> The literal translation in English of In bocca al lupo is “to be in the wolf’s mouth.” It's basically "good luck!" At least that's what my research says. Haha, Enjoy!

Nile felt betrayed, bewildered, just… bamboozled! 

For fuck’s sake, she thought Nicky was the nice one. 

“Oh, do not despair, Nile!” Nicky calls from the rental car, a small black sedan with Joe behind the wheel and Andy in the passenger’s seat. Nicky was leaning his whole upper body out the back window, waving and smiling at her like it was her first day at kindergarten. 

Never mind it had been his whole idea to just dump her in the middle of a random province in Italy she didn’t know!

“Why can’t you just teach me Italian yourself?” Nile says, not liking how her voice comes out in a bit of whine. She is - was- a marine damn it…

“But all little birds have to be pushed out of the nest someday,” Nicky retorts, his smile never ceasing. “You will learn faster when you are immersed. No crutches!”

“And if you fall, you get back up!” Joe calls encouragingly. 

“Or, you know, die on impact,” Andy remarks and Joe gives her an elbow to the ribs. Andy just laughs as Nile scowls. 

“And where are y’all going?”

“Oh, we are going to take Andy for her favorite gelato and wine here,” Nicky remarks casually. 

With that the sedan revs up and spins away, merging back onto the road. 

“Don’t worry,” Joe calls out as he steers away, “the people of Casanova and Varazze are nice! Mostly…”

Nile just gapes as they drive off without her. She swears she can see Joe and Andy laughing, Nicky yelling out, “In bocca al lupo!” as they drive away. And he knows damn well she has no idea what he’s saying…

Oh she’ll kill him for this… All of them. 

Nile sighed, trying to take in her surroundings. It was still quite chilly here for June, and she pulled her leather jacket a little closer around her. She had thought they were on vacation. They had arrived through Rome and immediately had caught a train so Nicky could show her his hometown of Genoa. 

“Not Genoa,” Nicky had said with a roll of his green eyes. “Ge-no-VA!”

But here she was, two days later and she had been kicked out of the car to work on her Italian nowhere NEAR a big city. 

“Too many tourists,” Andy had said. “You would find someone who knew enough English to help you.”

Well, I guess she had to start somewhere…

If nothing else it was beautiful. Lush green trees stood up among the hills, up and around the houses and businesses that became a bit more frequent as she walked down the road the others had driven down. 

With a sigh, Nile lifted her right hand to hold her left arm in a protective stance. She felt so out of place here. Well, she felt out of place in most countries and cities they frequented. Not just because it wasn’t Chicago, or she was the minority, or she didn’t speak the language… No, she felt of time with the place. 6 months into immortality and she felt no wiser or particularly skilled. She just felt strange…

As she continued to walk, now looking at the pavement in front of her she heard a whistle. She kept walking until she heard it again. She snapped her head up, ready to snap the neck of any one who tried to catcall her. She knew what those sounded like, foreign language or not. 

Instead she was greeted with a young man and woman around her eternal age of 26. The man was tall, dark hair and beard and dark brown eyes. He was tan, lithe, but well muscled. The woman was shorter and had lighter skin, but her eyes were also dark and her hair had been dyed a luscious ginger. Nile gulped, realizing just how long it had been since she had really been around anybody other than Andy, Nicky, and Joe. More than that, how long it had been since she had really noticed and taken in the attractive forms of a man or a woman. 

She shook her head before she started thinking how long it had been since…

The man and woman both started chatting away at the same time, almost in sync as they talked to her. Nile couldn't keep up, the bit of Italian that Nicky taught her slipping from her brain. They seemed to catch on as they stopped their rapid fire one-sided conversation and instead cocked their heads at her, perfectly mirroring the other. 

Only one phrase came to Nile’s mind.  
“Mi sono persa.”

I’m lost. 

At once the two perked up and started talking again, this time much more slowly. 

“Where are you going?”

“Nautilus Beach.”

At the two’s puzzled looks, she decided to do this the old fashioned way. 

“Beach,” Nile said again while miming waves with one hand and sun with the other. 

“Ah!” the woman said, looking back and forth between the man and Nile with a smile on her face. “La spiaggia!”

“Si!” Nile said, face flushing with relief. 

The man looked at her kindly, and said, “We can help.” He said it slowly, carefully, like it had taken him a minute to remember the words and Nile knew exactly how he felt. 

Nile stuck out her hand and attempted to introduce herself. 

“Mi chiamo Nile.”

“Marco Borelli.”

“Lyda Borelli.”

“Husband and wife?” Nile asked, making a motion with her hands so they looked like two hands kissing.

They both looked at her like she had suggested they chop off their feet and eat them. 

“No no no!” the man said while the girl made a gagging motion. “La mia sorellina!” 

“2 minuti!” the woman cried, her hair whipping around her face like a fiery explosion as she looked up at the man indignantly. 

Marco pointedly ignored her, searching for words. 

“Sister… uh… little but born...same time.”  
“Oh!” Nile exclaimed, looking from one to the other. “Twins!”

“Si!” Marco and Lyda said, perfectly in sync. 

Well that explains a lot, Nile thought as the twins led her down the road, talking animatedly as they went. 

As the twins talked in Italian, with various English sprinkled through, Nile listened for words she knew. She was nodding along, piecing together what they were saying through context and hand motions. She could just make out that they were surprised to see a tourist walking towards the coast from Casanova as there were two highways she would have to cross. Nile couldn’t help but let out an exasperated side, the sun beating on their heads as the cool breezes stilled. 

“I’m gonna kill Nicky…”

“Nicky?” Lyda questioned, falling in step with Nile. Her smile was wide and her dark eyes bright. Nile couldn’t help but feel her heart stutter just a bit. 

“My...uh…” Nile had a moment of panic. What would she call Nicky? She was not going to claim he was her boyfriend as that just felt… well, weird. And she felt like if they saw Nicky and Joe when they got to the beach they would immediately piece together that the two were lovers. She felt like she couldn't just call him a friend either because what group of friends would just leave her to find her way to the beach just to learn Italian? Nile pretended (although, not completely) that she was struggling to find the Italian word she was looking for. When she came up with her lie, she had a back story planned. 

“My...uh… fratello...um…” Nile raised her hand above her head to signal someone taller, older than her. “Italiano.”

Lyda and Marco’s gaze intensified, Marco looking back at her, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion while Lyda raised an eyebrow. 

“He wants me to learn Italian, he’s my step-brother. You know...ummm… different mama’s?”

“Fratellastro?” Marco questioned. She could see the question in his eyes and Nile could feel sweat building up on her neck. 

“Si?” Nile said, shrugging. “He left me here. Thought I’d learn.”

Lyda nodded, seeming to understand and related this to her brother, who nodded. Lyda rolled her eyes and pointed to Marco. “Same to me,” she said, grimacing while Marco reached back and tugged her dyed hair playfully. 

“Brothers are the worst,” she said in Italian and Nile understood and laughed enthusiastically. Her laughter was so infectious that soon Lyda and Marco were laughing too. Soon enough the trio were running across two highways and within 30 minutes had reached what they said was the Piazzale Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa. There were more people now, leisurely strolling on the street, passing by cafe’s and shops. Lyda and Marco would point to things and say words and Nile would repeat them, turning it into a game. Whenever she got something right they would praise her and Marco even got bold enough to start kissing her cheek whenever she pronounced something correctly. 

When he first did this, Lyda glared at her brother, saying something that was too fast for Nile’s ear. Marco gave her an apologetic look and the next time she said something correctly he leaned in and said, “Permesso?” Nile nodded and he gave her s swift kiss again and Nile couldn’t help flushing for what felt like the millionth time that day. 

Damn, it really had been too long for her…

But (and she would never admit this) Nicky had been right. The more Nile heard and saw and spoke repeatedly, the more at ease she became with the words and phrases surrounding her. Voices were enveloping her in another language and culture that was not her own. 

It felt like too soon when Marco and Lyda led her to the edge of the cerulean coast, screaming across another highway as they went, laughing and whooping. Nile had to marvel at this instance, this fact, that laughter was universally accepted as the sound of joy. How marvelous it was, how wondrous that that would never change no matter how many lifetimes pass by. 

The beach has chairs and umbrellas sprawled across it and there was even a pool ahead. Men and women lounged on the chairs and even dared to splash in the beautiful but chilly water. Men and women were laying topless, soaking up the sun with every inch of their skin, cherishing how the light kissed any sense of cold away. 

Marco nudged her and in Italian asked her where her brother was. Nile couldn’t help but be proud she understood him. Nile squinted, searching for a sign of Nicky and the others. Eventually she spotted them. Andy was sitting on the beach, her legs sprawled out as she licked the top of what Nile assumed was gelato from a cup. Joe was next to her, his hands grasping a fishing pole, reeling in and casting out with evident delight on his face. Nicky stood next to him, chatting animatedly. 

The twins looked at her and then back to the group, specifically Joe and Nicky. At first, Lyda and Marco pointed at Joe questioningly. Nile rolled her eyes and shook her head, pointing at Nicky instead. 

“Fratellastro,” Nile said firmly, knowing that the two were questioning the differences in the color of their skin. To Nile’s relief the twins shrugged it off quickly. Who were they to judge or pry? Lyda said as much, saying families did not have to be traditional any more and Nile smiled, nodding in agreement. 

They walked leisurely out to them, Nile even stopped to take off her sneakers and socks, feel the sand and rocks under her feet and between her toes. It was delightful just to be walking with Lyda and Marco and, she realized as they approached, she would be sad to see them leave. 

Nicky, the most observant, spotted her first. He waved enthusiastically, turning to Joe and Andy excitedly, waving his hands in Nile’s direction emphatically. Andy and Joe turned their heads. Joe smiled while Andy continued to lick her melting gelato. 

Lyda leaned into Nile’s ear in a conspiratorial manner, her breath warm against Nile’s neck, “If he asks you what you learned, say…” and as Lyda told Nile, Marco bellowed his laughter. Nile knew immediately this was something Nicky would not have taught her, although she bet Joe or Andy would have eventually. 

“Nile!” Nicky exclaimed, squeezing Joe’s arm just before leaving his side to jog to Nile, giving her a quick, affectionate kiss on the head. “How was your journey?” 

Keeping to his mission, Nicky spoke in Italian, his eyes alight with mischief and delight. Nile pretended to pout but she couldn’t hold a smile back for long. 

““I made friends,” she said in Italian, standing up a little straighter as she did so. “Marco and Lyda Borelli. Twins! Lyda, Marco, this is Nicolo, my stepbrother.” Nile made sure to emphasize the word stepbrother so Nicky would catch on to her lie. 

Nicky looked at Marco and Lyda as if he was noticing them for the first time. His smile was kind but Nile knew he was studying them just like he studied potential threats on a mission through the lens of his sniper rifle. 

“Well, thank you for looking after my sister,” Nicky said, his smile never fading. “I’m so pleased she could practice with good people such as yourself.”

“It was our pleasure,” said Marco, looking into Nile’s dark eyes with his own and giving her a wink. “Any time.”  
Both twins, once again perfectly in sync, swooped in so they were each flanking Nile’s face, their lips mere centimeters away from her ears. 

“May we?” they asked in Italian and, with the barest of nods from Nile and a catch in her throat, they kissed her cheeks, lingering probably a bit longer than was appropriate. Nile could feel three pairs of eyes boring into the back of her skull. As the twins pulled away, Nicky placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently but firmly as he pulled her to his chest. 

“Do you have Whatsapp, Nile?”Lyda asked, her eyes shining, the blue sea impossibly reflected in her eyes. 

Before Nile could respond, Nicky was answering for her. 

“Sorry, she lost her phone awhile back and we have yet to replace it.”

Lyda and Marco nodded sympathetically. 

“That’s okay,” Marco said, “we’ll find you on social media!”

“Hope to see you soon!” Lyda said cheerily and in tandem, she and her brother turned and sauntered up the beach, their exultant laughter and voices being carried away on the wind. 

Nile stared at the sand, her heart sinking, knowing that they would never find her on social media. She’d never have a phone she could text them from, she could not friend them, DM them, send silly snapchats, or trade the latest video craze… She was erased in the ether, within the very depths of the net. To many, she was dead. 

Nicky squeezed her shoulders again and led her to Joe and Andy. 

“So,” Andy drawled, finally using her spoon to scoop up chunks of her gelato. “You been invited to a threesome kid?” 

Joe barked out a laugh while Nicky looked horrified as Nile flushed. 

“They’re twins!” Nile squeaked. 

Andy shrugged nonchalantly, looking up at Nile through her shades as if to say, “So?” 

“I've seen it all, kid,” Andy remarked, waving her little plastic spoon in Nile’s face. “If nothing else, those twins seem to share a lot of the same interests.” She said this while pointing the little spoon at Nile as if she was a particularly relevant statue at a museum. 

“I mean, you’re young Nile, get some while you can,” Joe remarked. Nicky reached back and shoved Joe lightly while Joe just smirked, reeling in his line again with steady hands despite the assault. 

“Enough of that Nile, you don’t need to do that. You’re too young.”

“I’m 26!”

“A baby, my sorellina,” Nicky says teasingly. 

Nile can’t help but reach up and tweak Nicky’s nose teasingly. 

“So,” Nicky drawls,”What did you learn? Any favorite words or phrases?”

Nile smirked and happily exclaimed, to Nicky’s horror and Andy and Joe’s mirth, 

“Che cazzo!”


End file.
